[josef]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

I kind of think that the kinds of companies that could be bribed to leave Philly for a Camden office park are not the kinds of companies we need to worry about much anyway.

A company that is willing to do that in many cases has a very generic employee base for whom urban amenities/lifestyle is low priority. Kind of an "Office Space" type place. Most companies of that type have already left the city for the burbs over the past 5 decades.

I think I have bought into the idea that Philadelphia is going to attract companies based on its natural draws: lifestyle, youth-appeal, transit access, diversity, etc., and needs less and less to bribe companies that covet talented employees who covet those kinds of urban traits.

Basically agree with all of this. Companies moving into Philly are currently taking some of kind financial hit, right? With whatever business taxes Philly has that suburban places supposedly don't. It's about the culture, the atmosphere, being in a community. That's why I work in Philly and would never work anywhere else.

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

Relocating to a Campbell's campus wouldn't really be a drop-off in terms of physical environment, but would have a much better regional location, especially compared to other South Jersey spots or places in Lower Bucks or Delco close to NJ.

Especially if PATCO is going to build a stop. That's instant 10-minute public transit access to Center City.

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

But can you imagine companies like RJMetrics relocating there? Increasingly, it's hard to do that, with Center City getting better and better and baby-boomer Green Acres values receding further over the sunset.

(Fun historical note: RJ Metrics started in Camden in 2008. They moved to the city in 2012.)

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

In the future, it seems more likely that more competition for talent will be from lower-cost, more business friendly upstart downtowns: who knows, an Indianapolis, a Columbus, a Denver, an Austin. Cheaper, less politically stultified cities CBDs of which are beginning to emerge from 70 years of death and actually showing sparks of vitality and hipness.

Sure. Look at how expensive NY and SF are. You can see why a cheaper place would be more welcoming. But don't forget, it's not like NY has suffered because some companies are in Newark. Nor has SF suffered because some companies are in Oakland or Berkeley. Or Boston with MetroWest. These are strong regions, and I think it'd be pretty cool if we had a strong a region as possible.

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

My guess is that the Camden facility would appeal more to suburban companies than urban ones . . . that Brandywine might be banking on taking advantage of a shift in the thinking of conventional suburban companies that might be considering transitioning to a more transit-oriented, less-sprawl oriented setting, but aren't ready to take the full-on plunge into the urban environment.

This is an interesting point, and I like it. There are currently companies based in suburban places that don't move for reasons, even if we don't like them, like, lots of immediately local employees, CEOs live nearby, whatever things like that. If this is a way to increase the urbanity of their company without the "scary" (or whatever) plunge of going right into Center City, then I'm for it. Anything to cut back the immense, soulless swaths of suburban office parks.